


All The Fun of the Fair

by Ltwillbush



Category: Hornblower (TV), Hornblower - C. S. Forester
Genre: Funfairs, M/M, a spider - Freeform, evil little shit, fluffy fluff, preciousness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-25
Updated: 2017-10-25
Packaged: 2019-01-23 02:32:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12496604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ltwillbush/pseuds/Ltwillbush
Summary: Archie takes Horatio & Will to the fair... it doesn’t go quite as planned.Inspired by Harboured and Encompassed.





	All The Fun of the Fair

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bbcphile](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bbcphile/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Harboured and Encompassed](https://archiveofourown.org/works/9135700) by [bbcphile](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bbcphile/pseuds/bbcphile). 



Archie was… worryingly excitable. Horatio watched as he bounced in his seat on the bus (what kind of self-respecting city didn’t have an underground system, for god’s sake) next to Will, who looked highly amused. They’d both gone along with Archie’s plan to visit Hull (where WAS Hull?) for a ‘’famous funfair” after Archie used such words as ‘fresh toffee’ and ‘brandy snap’ in rapid succession. Horatio had been less enthused by ‘twister’ and ‘waltzers’, but Will had looked keen enough for both of them.

The bus arrived at the correct stop, and Archie led them both off. They crossed the street, and suddenly, they were in the fair. Set up down a single side-street, there were more stalls than most markets, and, off to one side, enough rides to keep Archie happy for at least a week. Will was looking around wide wide eyes, the bright lights catching on his face and reflecting off his leather jacket. Horatio stared for a moment, caught in how gentle Will looked in the half-light. With two quick steps, he was between Will and Archie, linking hands with the blond and smiling warmly to the brunet.

“Alright, Will?”

“Of course.” Blue eyes met his for a moment.

“And you? I know you’re not a fan of… well, this.”

“I might enjoy it.” Horatio gave him a quick smile, and started to lead the way down the street. “Rides first, I assume?”

“Of course!” Archie grinned broadly. “I thought up a few that you might enjoy, actually. The ferris wheel is steady enough if you can cope with the height… and since you took motion-sickness tablets, you might be alright on the twister?”

“Perhaps.” Horatio wasn’t sure about either of them, but he’d try it if it made Archie smile. Will looked at him with a slight frown, but remained silent.

“What’s your favourite, Will?”

“I don’t mind.” Will shrugged one shoulder easily. “I’ll try most things once. The waltzer can be a bit painful if I get thrown about too much, but otherwise…”

“Excellent.” Archie bounced slightly in place, grinning. “Look, there’s a Twister there, shall we start with that?”

“Why not?” Will smiled, and gently tugged Horatio towards it. “Horatio, do you want to wait here?”

“I’ll try it.” The brunet gave him a slightly nervous smile, and followed Will towards the payment booth. “It can’t be that bad. That child just bounded off smiling.”

“Horatio-”

“I’ll be fine.” He followed Archie up to an empty seat. “Who sits where?”

“Will on the outside.” Archie suggested. “Horatio in the middle? That way you’ll slip as little as possible.”

“He’ll be squashed!” Will protested. Horatio blinked.

“Squashed?”

“Have you never seen a Twister before?” Archie grinned, and hopped up to take his seat on the far right. Will nudged Horatio to follow suit, then slipped into the remaining space on the left. Horatio swallowed, and Will took his hand and squeezed gently.

“You’ll be alright, love.”

“That’s not reassuring at all. You only call me that when you’re nervous.” The car jerked slightly as the attendant locked the safety bar, and Archie settled himself with only the slightest wince at the sudden inability to get up. Will, meanwhile, looked more than slightly nervous all of a sudden. “You’re very pale.”

“Yes, well, you might be sick on me.” Will grinned. “I like these jeans.”

“Very helpful.” the ride jerked, and began to move. Horatio squeaked in a way he’d deny forever, before sliding a few inches to the right and squashing Archie, who merely grinned and wrapped an arm around him.

“Hello.”

“Hel-oof!” Will joined him in squashing Archie, which had the added effect of squishing Horatio between them. “Has anyone told you you’re surprisingly heavy recently, Will?”

“Thank you.” Will’s voice was surprisingly steady and dry considering the circumstances, even as the movement of the ride pushed him more firmly against Horatio’s side. His breath caught slightly as Horatio’s fingers closed on his, gripping tightly. “Are you alright?”

“Fine. Oh jesus-” the ride was speeding up, flinging them round 360 degrees in a shockingly short period of time. He considered closing his eyes but that seemed like rather a bad idea, so instead, he braced himself against Archie and tried to remember how to breathe.

Finally, the ride slowed, and he allowed himself to relax. But then-

“Let’s turn you around!” yelled the attendant, as the ride started up again - now spinning them backwards. Will winced as Horatio crushed his hand again, and Archie hugged the brunet close. After a lot more spinning and dizziness-inducing lights and music, they finally - finally! - stopped, and the bar unlocked, allowing them to stand. Will hopped down first, turning to help Horatio, who staggered into him slightly. To his surprise, he didn’t feel sick - just a bit dizzy and squashed.

They all stumbled off the ride, stopping a few feet from the platform to shake themselves out. Archie looked the most rumpled - yet he was grinning fit to burst, while Will was more focused on checking Horatio wasn’t going to faint on them.

“Horatio? Are you alright?”

“Just fine.” He smiled, slightly, and moved to take Archie’s hand. “Where to next?”

“You’re sure?”

“Positive. Thought perhaps something a little less… speedy?”

“Agreed.” Will grinned. “My hand needs time to recover from that.”

“Sorry.” Horatio mumbled sheepishly, and Will shook his head.

“It’s fine. Any preference towards what we try next?”

Horatio looked around, before hesitantly pointing towards the ferris wheel. “That?”  
“You’re okay with the height?”

“I think so.” Horatio smiled, and took out the money to pay. There wasn’t much of a queue, so they were soon stepping into the car and taking seats - Horatio and Will on one side, and Archie opposite. The car began moving - they were the last to board for this rotation, so they moved steadily all the way to the top. Archie pointed out everything he could see through the fencing - including something called the ‘Humber Bridge’ - before they began to descend again. Horatio relaxed, leaning into Will a touch - the height wasn’t so alarming when they were safe in this car. Perhaps… he frowned slightly. He’d been on high things with Will or Archie several times, and he’d always been uncomfortable even then. Perhaps having both of them with him was what it took to calm him?

“This is alright, actually… not as bad as that cable-car by a long shot!”

“See, told you.” Archie grinned. “It’s always been my favourite ride, I like seeing everything in the fair, it’s all so pretty.”

“It is, very.” Horatio agreed. He turned his head slightly as he heard shuffling next to him. He raised an eyebrow as he saw how Will was carefully edging towards him, looking rather pale and tense all of a sudden. “Will?”

No answer.

“Will, are you alright?”

Will’s only reply was to press firmly against Horatio’s side. Horatio frowned, twisting to kiss Will’s cheek - that usually did the trick when it came to snapping him out of his thoughts. Nothing. Archie looked at them, confused, before glancing down and seeing the reason for Will’s sudden nerves.

“Ahh. Horatio, look after Will a moment, will you?” he asked calmly, shifting so he could slip his shoe off without kicking either of his boyfriends. Will was almost into Horatio’s lap as it was, so the brunet merely wrapped an arm around him for comfort, kissing him again - this time on the top of his head. Archie aimed with the shoe, and smacked the spider hard enough, and enough times, to crush it to nothing.

“There. Sorted.”

“Thank you.” Will’s voice was small, and he still looked very pale. Horatio rubbed his arm gently, and pressed yet another kiss to the top of his head.

“It’s alright.” he murmured, smiling slightly as Will’s head rested against his shoulder. “Gives us an excuse to cuddle.”

“I’m alright.” Will pushed himself to sit up, smiling slightly as Archie put his shoes back on. “Thank you, Archie.”

“Not at all.” their car finally reached the end of the circuit so they could disembark, and Will was the first out - presumably in case there were more spiders. Horatio followed, looking around for where they should go next.

Archie dragged them over to something called the ‘Jumping Frog’, and one look was enough to tell Horatio that he most definitely did not want to ride it, thank you very much, so he stepped aside to watch Will and Archie bound off to make themselves both dizzy and jostled at the same time.

He watched them with a soft smile. Will had, until Archie, so rarely shown emotions like this - grinning unprompted, and the lord knew he’d never have suggested the funfair himself, yet he was clearly having a good time. Horatio waved as the two were fastened in, linking hands behind the safety bar. Horatio flexed his fingers slightly, remembering how Will had gripped his hand just a few minutes earlier. It felt… really nice, in a way he’d never associated Will and touch before Archie.

How had he not noticed how lonely Will had looked before?

Will didn’t look lonely now, though. In fact, he’d leaned in to Archie so that the blond could take a photo of them both on his phone, laughing softly as the wind ruffled up their hair and caught the ends of his scarf. Horatio grinned, and watched as the ride started to move. Even watching made him feel a little sick, and when the other two returned, they were both looking rather windswept.

“Had fun?”

“We did!” Archie beamed, bouncing on the spot. “We could try the Super Bob, if you like. That’s not too… intense.”

“Alright, lead the way.” Horatio shook his head fondly and followed as Archie started threading his way through the crowd. The fairground wasn’t particularly large, but it took them almost ten minutes to get to the other side. Just as they reached the ride Archie was aiming for, however, some idiot in the park just behind decided now was a good time for a firework display.

Horatio turned to watch, surprised, but after the first shower of sparks, he felt Archie pulling urgently on his sleeve. He turned with a frown, which only deepened when he saw Will’s face.

“Will?”

His only answer was a frantic gasp for breath. Archie was holding his hand, which seemed to be the only thing keeping him from bolting. Horatio approached slowly, trying to remember all the advice Archie had given him for dealing with panic attacks.

“Will? It’s alright, love, it was just a firework. Nothing’s going to happen, I promise.” he offered his hand, palm up, and swallowed, relieved, when Will hesitantly accepted the touch. “That’s it. What can we do to help?”

“Can’t-” Will coughed slightly, stumbling. “Can’t breathe-”

“That’s okay. Do you think you can breathe with me, if I set the pattern?” a tense nod.

“Okay. In for four, out for four, ready? In- and out. In- and out. That’s it. Keep breathing with me, in- and out.”

Will eventually began to settle, his grip on their hands relaxing to be more comfortable and less crushing. Horatio slipped his arm around Will’s waist, rubbing his side gently.

“Do you want to head to the hotel?”

“We don’t have to… Archie’s having a lot of fun.”

“It’s okay if you two have had enough.” Archie assured them. “We can try out a few games, get some food, and head back to the hotel.”  
Horatio nodded. “That sounds good.”

“Alright.” Will still sounded very quiet, and when Archie went to drop his hand, tightened his grip back to almost-painful. Archie smiled softly, and squeezed gently.

“It’s alright, I was just going to check my phone, that’s all. Let’s get back to the street and see what we can find to win, huh?”

“Okay.” Horatio agreed with a smile, leading Will along mostly because he was quite enjoying the side-hug. “There’s a dart game there, how about that?”

“Only if I’m allowed to stand behind a shield.” Will offered - not quite his usual wit, but a good attempt. Horatio scowled.

“I’m not that bad!”

“Oh, you are.” Archie told him cheerfully. “Will, come stand here with me while Horatio takes his turn. You just have to get over twenty, I think?”

Horatio nodded, and paid - receiving three darts, which he picked up carefully. He aimed, and threw the first - double nineteen. He grinned, and threw again - seventeen. His last dart, though, hit in the two, and he pouted at it as though personally offended. Archie snorted, and swapped places with him.  
Thirty seconds later, there were three darts buried in the bullseye. Will laughed, startled, and walked over to watch his boyfriends pick out their prizes. Horatio carefully selected a white cat, while he handed to Archie with a grin. Archie, in turn, chose a large, soft monkey that he handed straight to Will. Will flushed, hugging it lightly.

“Thank you.”

“Not at all. Food?”

“Wait, Horatio hasn’t got a present.” Will looked around, then approached another stall, this one a “get the ball in the cup” arrangement. His hand was a little shaky so he missed the first two, but got the third into the barrel. He looked at the prizes carefully, before picking out a little horse keyring-teddy. Horatio took it, laughing.

“You’re never going to let that go, are you?”

“Never.” Will smirked, and attached it to Horatio’s jacket zipper. “There.”

“Thanks, love.” Horatio pressed a kiss to his cheek, and took his hand again to lead them to find some food.

Twenty minutes later, they each had a hot dog, a bag of brandy snap, quite a lot of toffee, some licorice whips, roasted chestnuts (“Archie, why are you eating conkers?”) and, to Horatio’s confusion, something called ‘rock’ which was rather bright, to say the least. They all piled onto the bus to head back to their hotel, weighed down with sugary snacks.

By the time they arrived back, Will was openly exhausted. He didn’t panic often any more, but when he did, it wore him out. It took both Archie and Horatio to manage to get him up to their room, where they gently dropped him onto the king-size bed. He immediately tried to get up, protesting sleepily.

“This is your bed…”

“There’s plenty of room, love.” Archie grinned, leaning down to kiss the top of his head. “I think tonight calls for plenty of cuddles.”

“...but ‘ve got my monkey.”

“You are an adorable goofball.” Archie told him cheerfully. “Get into your ‘jamas.”

“Yes, sir.” Will mumbled, not moving an inch. Horatio shook his head fondly, and started working on unlacing Will’s boots. The brunet just watched, yawning slightly, so Archie brought his pyjamas over.

“Here, love. Sit up for me?”

“Mm… no. Comfy.”

“Will, come on, love.” Archie gently helped him sit up, prising the monkey out of his hold and handing him the pyjama shirt instead. Eventually, Will shrugged his t-shirt off, replacing it with the pyjama top, just as Horatio eased his boots off. He finally got up to change into his pyjama bottoms, and removed his prosthetic for the night. Horatio changed too, and climbed into the bed, throwing his arm across Will’s waist. Archie, meanwhile, was tucking the teddies into the single bed, arranging them to look as cosy as possible. Once he was done, he padded back and got into the bed, snuggling up with a grin.

“Goodnight, loves.”


End file.
